Quite a Scare
by alwaysbrennan
Summary: 'This ranked number one on the list of the biggest scares of Richard Castle's life, right next to the time Alexis got her appendix taken out.' C&B Future Fic... One-shot.


**Hello, alwaysbrennan here. This is my first story for Castle! I have written a few for Bones (if that isn't already obvious). I love how similar they are!**

**Just as a precursor: This was originally part of a longer story, but this was the first chapter that I liked enough to actually publish. But it can very well stand on it's own as a one-shot. This story has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. I do have a little problem with past and present tense, so if I go back and forth, please forgive me!**

**The events described in the story are not 100% factual! This has never happened to me or anyone I know. And I admit to not doing a lot of research. It is highly dramatized!**

**One more thing, I do not own Castle!**

**ooOOoo**

Castle faithfully guarded Kate's bedside, carefully watching her face for any sign of movement. It had been five hours since their arrival at the hospital and a crazy one at that. This ranked number one on the list of the biggest scares of Richard Castle's life, right next to the time Alexis got her appendix taken out. He had been sitting in the same chair the entire time, never letting go of Kate's hand.

Martha and Alexis had stopped by for a couple hours. They kept Castle's spirits up until the sedative would make its way out of Kate's system. When it got to be close to dinner time and Kate was still not awake, they both decided to head home and make dinner. They promised to bring Rick back leftovers so he wouldn't have to suffer through the hospital cafeteria food.

Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie had also stopped by to see how Kate was doing. They, however, could not stay longer than a half hour. All three had to return to work to tie up loose ends on the last case and start on all over again on a new one.

Each visit Rick held back the most important news. Kate was pregnant.

The clock on the wall told Rick it was nearing 10:45pm. Rick was getting worried. Kate's eyes still remained closed. Sometime throughout the day, he had resorted to questioning the nurses every half hour about her condition. Each time they answered 'She will wake up on her own time'. They tried to kick him out when visiting hours had ended, but were unsuccessful. He was, after all, Richard Castle.

Closing in on 11pm, Rick found himself pacing the floor at the foot of the bed. That's when he heard it.

"Mmmm"

Castle's head snapped towards Kate's direction.

"Mmmmm"

He rushed to her side and grasped her hand in both of his. "Kate?" He kissed each of her knuckles, trying to entice her out of sleep.

Kate's head slowly lolled to the side of the bed he was on.

"Kate, sweetheart, wake up. Wake up."

Her eyes finally flickered open, if only for the briefest amount of time.

"Kate," Castle pleaded.

"Castle?" Again her eyes opened. This time for good.

"Oh, Kate! Thank God you are okay." He leaned in to give her a quick, but passionate kiss. They both smiled.

"Where…"

"Bellevue Hospital. Third floor. Room 311."

Kate couldn't help but chuckle. That was her husband after all.

"What happened?" She asked, while checking out all the machines she was hooked up to.

"You don't remember?" Rick was genuinely surprised, his wife never forgets anything.

Kate had bits and pieces floating around in her head, but nothing was making any sense. "Ummm, I recall not feeling well and lying to you about it." She admitted.

"I knew it!"

Kate ignored him and kept going, "We were about to go home, the suspect just confessed. I… I…"

"You fainted. Right there in my arms. I just… I saw your eyes glaze over, you stopped talking midsentence and just fell."

Kate could hear the anguish in his voice. She had never seen him this broken. Sneaking her hand out of his grasp, she made way up to his cheek, gently resting it there, her thumb brushing lightly against the corner of his mouth.

He felt her hand on his cheek and smiled. She always knew exactly what to do to get him to relax, even if it was just a simple touch. He lifted his hand to cover hers.

The next part of the story scared him more than he would like to admit. Even just thinking about what to say made tears slowly well up in his eyes.

Kate immediately noticed, "What? What's wrong?"

"You woke up twice. Once in the interrogation room when the paramedics arrived. The second time in the ambulance. Both times you were disoriented. You fought with the paramedics before they could properly check you. In the ambulance you threw up until you were hyperventilating."

Rick paused after seeing the initial shocked look on her face. He stayed silent until she wrapped her head around the information. She gave him a slight nod to continue.

"They thought you were just really sick with no food or water in your system. That is until we got to the emergency room. You couldn't stay conscious for longer than 5 minutes." Castle paused to gather his thoughts and brush back his tears with the back of his hand. "I don't know how it started because they made me wait in the waiting room. Kate," he grabbed her hand again, staring into her eyes, "I was so scared. I was pacing up and down the hall not knowing what was going on behind closed doors. I didn't know if my wife was going to die in the other room and I didn't have a chance to say goodbye!"

He kissed her hand hard letting his lips linger there for a moment longer. When he saw the look on her face, one of pure alarm and love, he couldn't help but be closer to her.

He stood up from the chair and hovered over her upper body. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

She understood the underlying meaning of those actions and scooted over to the other side of the bed, making room for him. He gently eased in beside her, spooning her side, getting as close as possible before continuing.

"I could have sworn I heard you scream my name a couple of times, and I couldn't do anything! I felt so helpless."

Kate squeezed his hand gently; reassuring him she was right there. Everything was going to be alright.

"Then a nurse ran out calling for me. I didn't know if it was good or bad news until she said you asked for me. I felt the weight being lifted off my shoulders. The relief that I felt was short lived. When I walked into the room and saw you curled up on the bed, sweat dripping off your face, eyes half shut I thought my world was collapsing. I could hear you moaning in pain. I thought you must have called me in here because this was the end." Castle finished, his face soaked with tears. Reliving this moment was harder than he thought.

Kate froze. Her husband thought she was going to die. How could she not remember any of this? Why was he still haunted by this?

Castle caught his breath again and continued, "God… when your eyes drifted up to mine, you looked so scared. I started to reach out to you, but as I did your eyes flew open in pain. You started to scream, I guess, but your body just shut down. For the fourth time I saw the lights go out. You weren't dead, obviously, but I didn't know what was happening. I was screaming, nurses were screaming. Finally the doctor arrived. She went over your symptoms quickly and set a course of action."

Rick paused. He really didn't want to tell Kate this part. After all, everything was fine now. But she would want to know and stop at nothing to get him to tell her. The grip he had on her hand got tighter, if possible.

"You were having a miscarriage."

Kate's heart dropped. Her breath taken away. Tears sprung to her eyes.

There was no way. She wasn't pregnant! She would have known if she were pregnant!

"No," Kate whispered, barely audible for Rick to hear. Her right hand went immediately to her stomach. "No, no, no, this can't be," she sobbed.

Rick had momentarily forgotten she didn't know the good news. He felt miserable for making her feel like she lost the baby.

Her head was now nestled in the nook of his neck, her tears coming down faster and thicker. She kept chanting 'no' into his skin.

"Kate. Kate, honey?"

"No, no, no, no…"

"Kate! You gotta listen!" His index finger found her chin and lifted it so they were eye level. She wouldn't look into his eyes. "Kate, look at me. Look at me."

Her sobs quieted a fraction and she met his eyes, still sniffling.

He swallowed thickly trying to think of the right words to say. Wasn't it the woman who was supposed to break the good news? Not the other way around.

"Sweetheart, don't cry," he started.

She interrupted, "I lost our baby!" Another bout of sobs wracked her body.

He sighed. He can write beautifully crafted novels, but he can't tell his own wife she is pregnant!

"No. No," he said firmly. She stared at him. "The doctor caught it in time. Kate, you are still pregnant. 8 weeks. We are going to have a beautiful baby!"

She started to cry again, but this time he knew they were tears of joy. He could see her radiant smile just before he pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

They stayed that way for awhile. Neither cared to pull away anytime soon.

After a few minutes, Castle let Kate pull away first. He could see the happiness yet hesitation in her eyes. She took both of her hands and ran them down to her stomach, amazed they had created a life in there. After a few seconds of tenderly rubbing her hands around, one of Rick's joined in.

It was Kate who broke the silence first.

"We are going to be parents."

Castle added, "You are going to be an extraordinary mother."

Kate smiled and drew him in for a kiss. When they finally pulled back for air, they were content to just stare down at where their child was growing, a sparkle in their eyes.

**ooOOoo**

**Thanks for surviving my (hopefully) emotional roller coaster ride. I really hope I got my point across, I always stuggle with heartfelt description. If you have any suggestions please leave me a review!**

**I'm not promising anything, but if you did like this story and want to know what happened, in detail, before this chapter, please leave me a review! Or if you maybe want to co-write it with me... or beta, I'd be a happy girl!**

**alwaysbrennan**


End file.
